CONTEMPORARY ONE WORD SEVERAL WORLDS

dimanche 28 juin 2009

Banque Mondiale: l’Inde retrouvera sa croissance de croisière en 2010

Par Yann Henaff. Source : Aujourd'hui l'Inde
Dans un rapport publié le 22 juin, la Banque mondiale révise à la hausse ses prévisions de croissance pour l’Inde, alors que les chiffres de la croissance mondiale sont revus à la baisse. La croissance indienne passerait de 5,1% en 2009-2010 à 8% en 2010-2011.
La croissance pourrait atteindre 8% en Inde en 2010-2011 La croissance indienne atteindrait 5,1% en 2009-2010, au lieu des 4% annoncés en mars dernier, prévoit la Banque mondiale dans son rapport Financement du développement dans le monde 2009 : Tracer la voie de la reprise mondiale, publié le 22 juin.
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dimanche 14 juin 2009

Art market on recovery path?

Source : The Economic Times
There are faint indications that interest in art is once again on the rise. With the stock markets improving in the last few weeks, there is a perceptible change in the financial situation and buyers are now showing a renewed interest in art.
As the financial markets are invariably interlinked, it is not surprising that once again attention is shifting to art. Although, the change is marginal, yet it is a good sign compared to the past several months where conditions had worsened to the extent that footfalls and sales in galleries were close to negligible. Most auctions that took place in this interim phase too performed poorly.
At least now, there are enquiries about interesting shows and specific artists. Although it is still very early to predict if the market is on a revival path, there is a strong possibility that things could improve. It is still early days and how much of this interest translates into financial tractions one will have to wait and watch.
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vendredi 12 juin 2009

Surprise success: Art Basel dispels credit crunch blues



Source : The Art Newspaper

Barbara Kruger, Untitled (I Shop Therefore I Am), 1987, sold for just under $1m from Thomas Ammann Fine Art (2.0/G4)

No return to the boom, but is the worst really over so soon?
Art Basel’s 40th edition continued to defy the worldwide financial slump yesterday, after the NetJets crowd had flitted off, leaving trails of cigar smoke, empty magnums of Cheval Blanc and throngs of prosperous European art lovers behind. Brad Pitt, Naomi Campbell, Roman Abramovich and music producer Pharrell Williams were among the celebrities who showed up. Major collectors including Eli and Edythe Broad, and Maria Bell, from Los Angeles; Don and Mera Rubell, from Miami; Stefan Edlis and Gael Neeson, from Chicago, turned up from the US; alongside a host of wealthy Europeans including Ulla Dreyfuss, Harald Falckenberg and Christian Boros.
Many of the 300 exhibitors came to the fair with low expectations and were surprised to find conditions less bleak than forecast. “I think the crisis is over in the art world,” said Basel-based dealer Miklos von Bartha (2.0/N5), who specialises in constructivist and non-figurative works. He sold ten pieces during the first two days of the fair, including French sculptor Bernar Venet’s wispy wood, 1982, One Indeterminate Line for 1160,000 to a Zurich collector. Venet’s work was also on view as part of the Venice Biennale, which helped prime sales all over the fair.
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Buyers' Market

Source : Time

Lekha and Anupam Poddar have opened their collection to all.

Anupam Poddar's new building looks like any other commercial edifice rising into the skyline of Gurgaon, a New Delhi suburb that has become synonymous with India's new economy. But inside, it's a different world. Instead of containing the cubicles, boardroom tables and ambitious young professionals that fill the neighboring high-rises, this one is crammed with contemporary Indian art.
All of it comes from the private collection of Poddar and his mother Lekha. The Poddars own a successful paper and construction business, but they are also patrons of the kind of art that doesn't hang neatly above a sofa — a pair of motorized mechanical cattle skeletons; a massive, gleaming cluster of stainless-steel utensils; a haunting video installation of a young artist pantomiming a bird's first flight. Their taste in art leans toward the "cheeky, ironic and witty," Poddar says. "If it will continue to excite, engage or challenge us in the long run, then we go with it."
The pair are part of a new breed of Indian art collectors whose fortunes have risen with India's economy — but who are not spending their riches on the established masters of India or the West. They seek out young artists, even those right out of art school, and collect their work with rigorous, passionate interest. The market has already boomed and bottomed but the serious collectors remain — and their sustained commitment is quietly transforming the Indian art world.
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Indian art defies downturn in the West

Source : The Economic Times
International auctions of Indian and Asian art seem to be turning out encouraging results even in midst of the downturn in the West.
The Christie’s sale of South Asian Modern and Contemporary Art in London has realised £2,430,275 ($3,973,450). The auction was sold 91% by value and 79% in terms of lots. While 96 lots were offered for sale, 76 were picked up by buyers.
The top lot of the sale is M.F. Husain’s oil on canvas work from the Ragamala Series which has gone for £397,250 ($649,504) to a private US collector. Following Husain, Rashid Rana’s Red Carpet - 4, a chromogenic print which is Diasec mounted, has sold for £175,250 ($286,534) to a private Asian buyer. Another private Asian buyer has acquired Ram Kumar’s Untitled (Benares) oil on canvas for £133,250 ($217,864).
Led by these top three lots, some other highlights include a Jamini Roy Untitled (Mother and Child) which went in the region of £12,500 ($20,200). On Jamini Roy’s heels, an F.N. Souza Untitled (The Church) has seen a price realisation of £85,250 ($137,764).
Keeping these names company, S.H. Raza’s La Terre has sold for £87,650 ($141,642), while Akbar Padamsee’s Village aux Quatre Maisons Oranges has found an auction price £70,850. In the same breath, another S.H. Raza, Germination, has gone under the hammer for £109,250 ($176,548) and a Jagannath Panda Untitled has been bought out for £22,500 ($36,360).
Christie’s international director of Asian Art, Hugo Weihe, told ET in an email from London, "In a packed saleroom with bidders in the room, on the telephone and on the internet, there was a tremendous sense of energy and spirited bidding in response to this carefully curated sale.
The breadth of interest spanned the modern and contemporary works, with discerning private collectors and trade responding consistently throughout to the attractive estimates. We are thrilled with these results, reflecting renewed vigour in the field. We look forward to our September sale in New York."

Indian art goes cheap at Christie's

Source : Business Standard
For now, the punters have been proved right. The sluggish art market for Indian modern and contemporary saw little hopes of a revival at the Christie’s auction of South Asian art in London on Wednesday, with most of the 76 (of 96 lots) sold well within their estimated value.
The star of the show was a 1960 M F Husain oil on canvas (Ragamala Series) that fetched a price of $649,504 (Rs 3.1 crore), on the lower end of its estimate. Rashid Rana’s Red Carpet 4 chromogenic print found a buyer, again within its estimate, at $286,534 (Rs 1.3 crore), while only Ram Kumar (Untitled, oil on canvas) surpassed his estimated value by approximately three times to sell at $217,864 (Rs 1 crore).
Not much was anticipated from the auction, and to that extent it did not disappoint. The more important forthcoming auction in terms of quality of works is now the Sotheby’s sale on June 16, also in London. Bidders anticipate it might generate livelier interest since the quality of works is marginally better, though they say some of the works on offer have been in previous auctions last year.
An interesting pointer at both sales is works consigned by European collectors – clearly a case of poor picks, or an economy going bust.

mardi 2 juin 2009

Le boom du mécénat d’entreprise

Source : Télérama
Longtemps négligé, voire suspecté, le mécénat d'entreprise connaît désormais en France un envol spectaculaire. 30 000 mécènes, de toutes tailles, ont apporté l'an dernier 2,5 milliards d'euros. Environnement, humanitaire, recherche, sport... Aucun secteur n'échappe à la « bienveillance » des entreprises, mais le premier de tous reste la culture, il est vrai portée par la loi Aillagon de 2003, qui défiscalise les dons à hauteur de 60 %. La crise pourrait-elle remettre en cause ces engagements ? Les plus ostentatoires, peut-être. Car les entreprises, à commencer par celles du secteur financier, cherchent désormais à gagner en respectabilité sociale.
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lundi 1 juin 2009

Une expo d’art contemporain indien dans 16 mois à Beaubourg

Par Juliette Tissot Source : L'Inde Aujourd'hui
Le centre Pompidou prépare une grande exposition intitulée pour l’instant "Paris Delhi Bombay, l’harmonie des contraires". Des œuvres d’artistes indiens et français vont se répondre en guise de dialogue entre la France et l’Inde. À découvrir à Paris à partir de mai 2010 et fin 2010 à New Delhi. EXPOSITION REPORTEE A MAI 2011.
"Ce sera la plus grande exposition en Europe jamais consacrée à l'art contemporain indien. Et c'est un nouveau concept d'exposition !", Alain Seban, le président du Centre Pompidou a exprimé tout son enthousiasme et son soutien au projet Paris Delhi Bombay lors de son passage à New Delhi, au mois de novembre.
Cette exposition n'ouvrira ses portes à Beaubourg qu'en mai 2010, mais les commissaires de l'exposition la préparent déjà depuis plusieurs mois. Fabrice Bousteau et Sophie Duplaix ont déjà fait plusieurs voyages en Inde à la rencontre d'artistes reconnus et à la recherche de ceux en passe de le devenir.
Paris Delhi Bombay ne va pas être une exposition comme les autres. Les commissaires ne vont pas se contenter de sélectionner des œuvres d'artistes indiens pour les amener en France. Non, Fabrice Bousteau et Sophie Duplaix veulent instaurer un dialogue entre deux pays reconnus pour leurs héritages et leurs vies culturels. Un dialogue d'art, de design, de mode, de film… Toutes les formes d'expressions artistiques auront leur place.

"Nous nous intéressons beaucoup à l'Inde, depuis longtemps, a expliqué Fabrice Bousteau. Nous y avons fait de nombreux voyages. Cette exposition est le fruit d'un désir. C'est une exposition sur l'art et la société qui évoquera la violence, le bonheur, la sexualité, le chômage, les choses bonnes et mauvaises, les œuvres seront des points de vues d'artistes sur nos sociétés".

Autre originalité, des artistes indiens vont venir en résidence en France travailler aux côtés d'un artiste français et vice-versa. Les œuvres se répondront. Les artistes vont donc correspondre à travers leur art. "C'est une exposition expérimentale où l'on ne cherche pas des noms connus. Pour l'instant, on rencontre des artistes, on cherche des idées. On interroge des gens de la société civile, des économistes, des anthropologues. L'art parle de la vie. Dans ces œuvres, Subodh Gupta évoque la nourriture avec ses installations réalisées à partir d'assiettes, de tasses".

Certaines œuvres vont donc être réalisées spécialement pour l'exposition. D'autres seront décrochées des ateliers et des galeries pour se rendre à Paris. Les commissaires de l'exposition n'ont pas encore révélé de noms d'artistes même si, dans la brochure de présentation de l'expo, ils ont mis en parallèle des artistes indiens et français comme Baba Anand et Pierre et Gilles qui ont en commun le sens du kitsh et qui pourraient être ensemble à Beaubourg en 2010.

Depuis une quinzaine d'année, l'art contemporain indien est d'une vitalité extraordinaire. Ce marché est d'ailleurs en plein boom. Par les temps qui courent, mieux vaut d'ailleurs investir dans l'art indien qu'à la Bourse de Bombay…

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